The closed tomb is nothing exciting, but still we wait and see.
O God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.
Peter wrote, “The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
The end is near, but I wonder why you showed up early for it. I wonder why you are here on this Sabbath of all Sabbath days. I wonder why you came to see this closed-up tomb.
So much of what we do on this day is waiting. If you were hoping for something else, something exciting, you will be disappointed. Even the Gospel reading for today is a re-run. We heard these same words at the conclusion of John’s Passion Gospel yesterday. So, even the Good News is waiting today—it’s silent, and for many silence is boring, even disturbing. No one has ever said, “Silence sells!” Instead, it searches us.
There is something magnificent about this silence, this waiting, this day. Unlike those who waited long ago in a garden or hidden away, unlike Joseph and Nicodemus, unlike the women who followed Jesus, we wait with some foreknowledge about the future. Sure, they had heard Jesus tell them what would happen after those three days, but could they believe as they waited. I wonder what it was like for those friends of Jesus as they waited.
I wonder if they snuck to the garden near Calvary on the Sabbath. I wonder if they sought to see Jesus’ tomb—sealed extra tight according to Matthew’s story. I wonder what they felt—sadness, anger, despair, loss, frustration, impatience, fear, apathy—their grief, no doubt, took many forms. Whatever they felt, they had to wait with it.
Today we wait. We wait somewhere fitting. Right over here and right out these stained-glass windows many holy ones are buried. And on this hallowed ground, long ago, someone prayed words similar to the following:
O God, whose blessed Son was laid in a sepulcher in the garden: Bless, we pray, these graves, and grant that those who will be buried here may dwell with Christ in paradise, and may come to your heavenly kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We wait here in this blessed place. We despair over the loss of a loved one, the loss of Our Lord, just like those long ago. We wait on sacred ground, yearning to dwell with Christ in paradise and to reside with beloveds in God’s Reign. That reign where love covers a multitude of sins—I wonder if that love covers all sins. I wonder if that love even swallows death. Let’s wait and see.
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